>If I was feeling particularly bold, I'd say the US prefers the cold
>calculation of using violence, terrible as it is and likely to invoke
>terrible retribution, than the uncertainty of pursuing the novel course
>of negotiating and compromising. Elites hate uncertainty.
It's not just that - I think that U.S. war planners know that the empire is sustained through extravagant displays of violence - excessive, out of all proportion to the stimulus. For every whisker of Uncle Sam's that's tweaked, hundreds must die.
Doug